Contemporary business aircraft require sophisticated avionics units to support safe air transportation. Generally, an avionics unit includes several circuit cards mounted into a chassis. Each of the circuit cards are coupled to various systems or subsystems of an aircraft by a backshell connector and cabling. Typically, an aircraft avionics unit is double or triple redundant for at least some of the circuit cards in the event of an avionics circuit card failure during flight.
When an aircraft avionics unit requires removal for servicing, or reinstallation following service, each of the multiple backshells must be held or positioned so as not to impede the removal or installation of the avionics unit. Typically, this requires several service technicians each of whom must be grounded by a ground strap to avoid electrostatic damage to the avionics unit. As will be appreciated, this process is time-consuming and expensive given that it requires multiple service technicians during the avionics unit removal or installation process. Moreover, given the number of backshells that must be held or positioned away from the avionics unit, there is a risk of damage to both the backshells and the avionics unit should one or more of the backshells come into contact with the avionics unit or other objects.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a guard for a backshell of an aircraft avionics unit. It is further desirable that the guard both protect the backshells and facilitate their positioning in a way so as not to impede removal or installation of an aircraft avionics unit. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.